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In Association with Amazon.com -
Thursday, January 08th 2009
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Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
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List Price: $29.99
Our Price: $25.97
Your Save: $ 4.02 ( 13% )
Availability: Usually ships in 3 to 4 weeks
Manufacturer: Square Enix
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Amazon Maximum Age: 20
Amazon Minimum Age: 60
Binding: Video Game
Brand: Square Enix
EAN: 0662248908069
ESRB Age Rating: Everyone
Feature: Tactics A2 brings more than 50 job classes to the player, enhancing one of the FINAL FANTASY series¿ most distinctive features
Is Autographed: 0
Is Memorabilia: 0
Label: Square Enix
Manufacturer: Square Enix
Model: 90806
Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Square Enix
Release Date: 2008-06-24
Studio: Square Enix
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Features
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Tactics A2 brings more than 50 job classes to the player, enhancing one of the FINAL FANTASY series¿ most distinctive features
All-new content and enhancements, including polished game mechanics, new jobs, new races and a new clan system that enrich the Ivalice experience for fans and newcomers alike
The North American release will allow players to command characters in battle and navigate through menus all with a tap of the stylus
Witness vibrant and colorful visuals in dual-screen presentation, made possible by Nintendo DS
Increased replay value with up to 400 available quests, allowing players to immerse themselves in a multi-faceted storyline
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Editorial Reviews:
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Explore the fantastic world of Ivalice and join forces with famous heroes from FINAL FANTASY XII - Vaan, Penelo and Al-Cid : All-new content and enhancements, including polished game mechanics, new jobs, new classes, and a new clan system that enrich the Ivalice experience for fans and newcomers alike : Command characters in battle and navigate through menus all with a tap of the stylus : Witness vibrant and colorful visuals in dual-screen presentation, made possible by the Nintendo DS system : Increased replay value with up to 400 available quests, allowing you to immerse yourself in a multi-faceted storyline
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: The best Final Fantasy Tactics game yet
Comment: I was hopelessly addicted to the first Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, and from what I've seen so far (25 hours in) this seems to be an improvement on FFTA in every regard. And as that was the most fun tactical RPG I'd ever played, that's saying something.
Something to understand- this doesn't feel like it was designed for DS. I don't think that's a flaw, but it could lead to disappointment depending on what you're expecting. This game was clearly designed for the Game Boy Advance like its predecessor, but ported to the DS when the Game Boy became obsolete. The graphics, music, interface and gameplay all come from FFTA, with subtle changes here and there. The touch screen is supported in the laziest way imaginable, and I think it was a mistake for them to bother at all if they weren't going to redesign the game around it. This game is absolutely meant to be played with the D-pad and buttons, same as a Game Boy game. The only thing done here which takes advantage of the DS is that you see the turn order on the top screen during battles. Adjust your expectations appropriately.
For myself, I couldn't be happier. I absolutely love FFTA the first, so more of the same is just what I wanted. There are so many opportunities for progress, I feel like there's almost always something for every single character in my party to be working on. When I finish training them for one job, I have them switch to a new job which will complement it. So there's always this sense of progress and opportunity, which is something often lacking in life.
The story is much less a focus this time around, which is good. The story was the one blemish on the FFTA1 experience, going against the fun escapism of the gameplay by trying to be a criticism of escapism. This game has no such aspirations. You're given the standard excuse for why you're in a fantasy world, and just keep moving. There's no grand plot like Final Fantasy Tactics for the PlayStation had, which is also a good thing. These games are so addicting, so refreshing in their gameplay, and I've always felt (and criticized) that the stories bogged them down.
The battles are a little bit harder than FFTA, and nowhere near as hard as FFT. It's a light game, where if you don't want to feel threatened by battles you can level up slowly and train your characters to be ready for them. Of course, if you want to be challenged you can rush forward in the plot, and have to be much more efficient in the battles. The pacing is up to you. There's very little penalty for failure- if you lose a battle, you can try it again later. And if you break the arbitrary laws declared at the start of a battle, you only lose a few privileges. (In the last game, breaking the law meant forfeiting all rewards for the battle and sending the offender to jail. It was particularly annoying.)
There are a few new systems outside of battle. The overworld is bigger and more varied in its maps, there's a system for slowly unlocking new weapons (nothing will pop up for itself), and there are auctions to buy control of areas. (In the last game you'd fight for it.) In battle, some elements have been simplified: combos have been taken out, KO'd bodies disappear and can be revived anywhere, terrain doesn't make much difference anymore. And some elements have been put in: random traps, a single bonus attribute which you choose at the beginning of the round, treasure lying around, contextual actions for more diverse goals.
You know what you're getting with this game. If you're looking for a story, look elsewhere. This one's just stays out of the way. What you're getting here is the potential to push characters into lots of different jobs. If that appeals to you, you'll love this. If not, it won't. You won't be impressed by anything technical about this game- the interface, the graphics, the sound. But you may be impressed by just how many jobs there are for each race. There's a lot to experiment with here.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable!
Comment: I was worried when I first got this game, because I had seen some negative reviews about it. But, I had nothing to fear. The game offers extremely extensive game play (I've been playing for nearly a month, and am still not bored) along with tons of great, new jobs to master and missions to complete. Also, I like how you can put the Advance version into the slot and a special reward.
The quality of the actual animation is better than ever before, with realistic fighting and mind boggling spells and incantations. This game is a must!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Final Fantasy TacticsA2
Comment: THe game works! and its a lot like the old one! It took a little while to get here though.. probably because of thanksgiving being around the corner, I would buy from them again.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A great, huge game that's just a little annoying
Comment: Positive:
+ you'll never run out of things to do
+ story is nice
+ very addictive
+ lots of new jobs and abilities
+ both screens are used for maximum convenience
+ new law system is great, but...
Negative:
- actual laws range from ridiculous to mind-numbingly stupid
- other little annoyances here and there that hurt the experience a bit
- the graphics aren't completely upgraded from the GBA
- no multiplayer
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (FFTA) was the defining game for the GBA. Whether you liked it or not, it showed us just how much could fit onto one of those little game cartridges. We've waited four and a half years to get our hands on a sequel, and we FFTA lovers had every right to have sky high expectations for this game. It's not all it could have been considering how great its predecessor was, but it's still a great, addicting game nonetheless.
Grimoire of the Rift's story is fine but not as great as in FFTA. The new main character, Luso Clemens, is really likable and his personality and dialogue make him a memorable and worthy main character. The supporting cast isn't half bad either, with other fun characters like Cid, Adelle, and Vaan that make the story better. The story is similar to FFTA: Luso gets transported into the world of Ivalice by accident through a magic book and he sets out on an adventure to figure out how to get back home. Thankfully he meets some good friends to help him on the way and he gets used to the new world pretty well right off the bat. As he goes along his adventure, he discovers that his journal, magically filling in its own pages telling of what he's done, is his ticket home. When it's filled, he'll return. But near the end of the game, a deeper plot to destroy Ivalice is discovered and this ends up being linked with Luso's way home. It turns out to be pretty good in the long run, but you don't even know what the 'Grimoire of the Rift' (you know, the thing the game is named after) is until about 5 missions before the story's ending.
FFTA's premise is simple: you pay a fee to take on a mission, you move around on the big map to get to where you need to go, you fight, you clear the mission. Repeat 400 times (for you completion obessessors). The battles are where a lot of your time will be spent (for obvious reasons) and is where the gameplay occurs (for other obvious reasons). The grid is viewed from a kind of slanted bird's eye angle, which is neat until you can't see behind a couple units blocking the space behind them, then it's kind of annoying sometimes. You move your guys around in turn-based strategy fashion, beat up the other guys until you defeat your mark or all enemies on screen, and that's it. The battles are hugely enhanced by the vastness of the jobs your characters can take on and the abilities they can learn to be more efficient in battle.
The main thing about FFTA2 is also what makes it live up to its $40 pricetag: it's absolutely huge. With 400 missions to clear and tons of jobs and abilities for your characters to master along with a load of stuff on the side, the game is bigger than what most developers bother to put into one DS game card. If you play until you beat everything, you will have spent well over 100 hours of your life, congrats.
However, not all of your time will be spent in battle. In fact, a large amount of your time with the game will be spent on outside strategies such as figuring out what job to have your character work with, which abilities they'll be learning, and going to the shop. The shop is greatly enhanced by adding a 'bazaar' in which you can exchange three pieces of loot for new weapons, suits of armor, shields, and all that good stuff. You'll definitely be going to the bazaar freqnently to see if your new loot can make you a new item, and it's a nice addition to the game.
The main reason FFTA2 is annoying is because of the laws. In every battle, your nifty little judge will protect your characters from actually dying so long as you obey one single law. This law can restrict you from using a certain type of weapon or magick (it's spelled with a 'k' at the end in the game, kind of strange...), but it can also restrict you from getting stolen from, dealing more than a set amount of damage, performing actions with a certain type of unit, moving more or less than an exact number of spaces... the list of stupid laws like these just goes on and on, and you'll find that about 50% or more of your battles will be riddled with frustration because of these kinds of laws that either make you feel like you shouldn't be playing to your best abilities or that you should just throw the DS into the wall across the room. I can guarantee you will turn your DS off on impulse and come back to it later several times before you're through with this game, it gets that annoying sometimes.
Thankfully, breaking a law doesn't get you a stat reduction or a ticket to the local jail. Instead, you can't revive KO'd units, you lose your law bonuses at the end of the battle (items and loot given you for keeping the law), and you also lose your clan priveledge. At the beginning of each battle, you select a Clan Priveledge that allows you to move farther, attack with increased power, regenerate HP every turn, or other nifty little things like that. It's a really cool feature, but it's really damaged by the fact that you'll be breaking the law in about half of your battles because you either don't care or can't do anything about it. This is the main thing that will make people not want to continue playing the game, but if you can look past this you'll have a great time.
FFTA2's graphics are both updated and not updated at the same time. The maps look no different than they did back in the GBA days, and neither do the character sprites. However, the attack animations have recieved a true DS upgrade, and there are a few that look pretty stunning but otherwise they look just fine. Overall, the visuals aren't up to par with the DS's standards but they don't look bad.
The sound here is nothing too great. The music is pretty good and fits the game pretty well, and tunes from the GBA game make a return occasionally which makes it cool for people who played that game. The sound effects are ok, not annoying but not particularly cool. But whenever a mission is finished, you hear some random kids screaming "Yay!" or "Aww!". This is annoying sometimes and definitely could have been done without.
Working with the DS's unique layout has done much good for the game. Both screens are used for your maximum convenience, and things that bugged you in the GBA game can't bug you any more, because rather than going back to your characters' abilities to see if they've mastered something, it'll tell you if you've mastered it on the top screen as you're scrolling through weapons, making equipping much more convenient. In battle, the bottom screen shows the grid and the action while you can look to the top screen any time to check the law, clan priveledge, and who will get the next moves. Both these uses of the top screen are great and make you feel like the whole thing is much better. There are also touch controls to use at any time, on the map, menus, or in battle. However, you'll likely stick to the regular controls because the touch control isn't worth the hassle.
The big hit against FFTA2 is the lack of multiplayer. I was thoroughly disappointed at this. Come on, this game is BUILT for multiplayer and online! Trading items and characters and helping your friends do better in the game and battling and all that stuff would have been awesome! They had it in the GBA game when you needed a stupid link cable, and now that it's on the DS with wireless and online they cut it!?! Why? It's perfect for the game and the system and takes away a lot from us, and it would have pushed it above and beyond into being a much better game, but nope. And I don't count getting a raffle ticket after connecting to another DS and exchanging it for an item I already have multiplayer, by the way.
Overall, FFTA2 is a sequel that isn't as good as its predecessor, but it's still a great game. You'll be addicted from start to whenever you feel like getting on with your life, and you'll most likely never finish it. Being such a huge game, it's well worth your $40, but you do need patience. If you can take time to look past the annoyances it brings and stop lamenting the lack of multiplayer, Grimoire of the Rift will be a rewarding game that you'll undoubtedly enjoy and play for a very, very long time.
Gameplay: 8.0
Graphics: 7.0
Sound: 7.0
Value: 10
FINAL SCORE: 8.2/10
Customer Rating:
Summary: FFTA2 FTW
Comment: If you like Tactics for ps1, and Tactics advanced for GBA, then you'll love this game. Its a perfect continuation. I've only had it a couple weeks and i've already logged 90+ hours playing. There is more jobs and 2 more races. There is over 300 missions. There is a Normal and Hard mode to choose from as well. Much more updates, very worth playing. Can't wait for more to come out!
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